Appeal denied for New Iberia man

Appeal denied for New Iberia man

LAFAYETTE — Appellate judges have denied an appeal filed by an imprisoned man from New Iberia who kidnapped his wife and eluded police for two weeks after jumping off the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge to escape, according to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal.

A three-judge panel of the appellate court said the issue on which Mark James Savoy filed his own appeal — a judge’s denial of post-conviction relief — is not an appealable issue.

In seeking the post-conviction relief, Savoy claimed there were errors made during the trial.

Savoy abducted his wife in Eunice in late 2006, led police on a chase on Interstate 10 and escaped when he jumped into the basin, disappearing for two weeks before police in New Iberia caught him in a hideout.

Arresting police said Savoy tried to run after law enforcement pinpointed where he was hiding, but he was found in a ditch after running face-first into a tree.

Savoy, 40, is serving a sentence of 12 years for his 2011 conviction of one count of second-degree kidnapping, and a sentence of two years for aggravated flight from an officer.